The Plan
Whitney Dineen
(The Creek Water Series #3)

Publication date: March 10th 2020
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance

Bead shop owner Amelia Frothingham has been keeping a secret from everyone she knows.

 

She pretends to be the ultimate care-free bohemian chick, but the truth is, she’s the world’s biggest control freak. Much to the delight of her Southern family, Amelia’s life appears to be smooth sailing. That is, until bad boy rockstar Huck Wiley mysteriously blows into town like a spring tornado.

 

Like every other woman under eighty with a pulse, Amelia’s intrigued. So when Huck starts showing up in her shop with flirtation in mind, she finds herself getting sucked into the rock god vortex. But her previous attempts at long-distance love have always ended on a sour note, so Amelia has vowed never to repeat the experience.

What Amelia doesn’t know is that Huck has a secret of his own, and he has no intention of returning to Los Angeles before he’s good and ready.

 

Will Huck stay in town, scattering the beads Amelia has finally gotten sorted? Or will he head back to his glamorous life and take her last chance at spontaneity and love along with him?

 

Find out in this deliciously funny romcom about love and life in Creek Water, Missouri!

Goodreads / Amazon

 

 

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EXCERPT:

 

 

*******

 

 

 

My insides churn in excitement at the thought of seeing Huck again. Last week if you’d have told me that either Huck Wiley was going to come to town or I was going to have tea with a full-blown yeti, my money would have been on the Sasquatch.

 

I curl up in a hand-carved gentleman’s chair that was original to this house, and stare around the ornate room. I swear I can see the ghosts of Lexi’s and my combined family members bustling around like they did back in the day. I wonder what life would have been like for me if I’d been around at that time. I probably would have been married off at fifteen to some old potbellied gentleman farmer or some such. A shudder of imagination-fed revulsion overtakes me. Of course, if the gentleman farmer looked like Huck, I would have set a world record running to the church.

 

Lexi pulls me out of my reverie when she comes in with a tray of dishes, silverware, and napkins. She puts them on the coffee table in front of me. “I think your parents should hire Shuckie to cater Emmie and Zach’s wedding. The man is magic.”

 

“That’ll be my wedding, if I ever have one,” I tell her.

 

“You don’t want a big deal down at the club?” 

 

“No, ma’am,” I tell her. “I want to party on the docks with lots of loud music and twinkle lights that run for miles. I want to eat fried fish and hush puppies, drink beer, and dance until my feet fall off.”

 

“I want to be invited to that wedding. It sounds like the event of the century,” a deep voice says. I turn to follow the sound; I hadn’t heard Huck walk in. I stare right at him and discover he’s his stunning bad-boy self. If he were a painting I’d title it “Rock Star in Repose.” He’s wearing a pair of his signature worn jeans and a tight t-shirt. This time it’s advertising an old Pearl Jam tour. He doesn’t look the least bit cold.

 

“The night I get hitched, you’ll probably be selling out Yankee Stadium and dodging a bushel load of panties being thrown your way by adoring fans,” I reply, totally dismissing his request to come to my wedding.

 

Huck laughs as though I’ve caught him totally off guard by my somewhat saucy comment. “If I played Yankee Stadium that might just happen, but Madison Square Garden isn’t quite that wild. Although a thong or two does make it my way,” he assures me.

 

“Lucky you.” The thought of throwing my unmentionables at him, and him picking them up, cause my insides to liquefy into a pool of raw desire. 

 

“Have you ever been to one of my concerts, Amelia?” he wants to know.

 

I don’t answer right away. Instead, I take time to clear my throat and fill my plate with an assortment of yummy food. I wait so long to address his question that I figure he’s forgotten he even asked it. I suggest, “You’d best hurry up and get some of this or you’re gonna be out of luck. I don’t bother eating like a lady when Shuckie’s the chef.”

 

Huck grabs a plate before repeating, “Have you ever been to one of my concerts, Amelia?”

 

“I have not,” I tell him. 

 

“I’m offended,” he teases gruffly. “Why not?”

 

“Because I have every album you’ve ever released and I don’t see the need to get all gussied up just to drive three hours to a venue only to be subjected to hordes of people screaming your name so loud that I can’t actually hear what you’re singing.” Then, instead of leaving well enough alone, I add, “I’d rather curl up on my couch, put on your album, and have you all to myself.” 

 

Good lord, why did I say that?

 

 

 

**********

 

 

 

The Plan by Whitney Dineen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is book #3, in The Creek Water series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. For reader understanding, and to avoid spoilers, I recommend reading this laugh-out-loud series in order intended.

Amelia has gotten to a good place. She no longer freaks out. She listens to good music. Then she gets a visitor who performs said music in her shop. Tongue tied does not really describe what happens.

Huck is attracted to the honesty Amelia gives him right away. Never did he think he would find someone who understands hi daughter, nor did he think he would want her so badly. How can he convince her that the future is worth leaping toward?

I really loved this story. I was surprised at all the funny moments. The banter is wonderful. The family interactions are not only easy to relate to, but they feel familiar. Taking a sensitive subject and approaching it this way with such humor, was just genius! I am certain this installment fits well into this series. I sure cannot wait for the next installment!


***This ARC copy was given in exchange for an honest review.

View all my reviews 

 

 

 

Author Bio:

 

Whitney loves to laugh, play with her kids, bake, and eat french fries -- not always in that order.

Whitney is a multi-award-winning author of romcoms, non-fiction humor, and middle reader fiction. Basically, she writes whatever the voices in her head tell her to.

She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband, Jimmy, where they raise children, chickens, and organic vegetables.

 

Gold Medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2017.

Silver medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2015, 2016.

Finalist RONE Awards, 2016.

Finalist at the IRFA 2016, 2017.

Finalist at the Book Excellence Awards, 2017

Finalist Top Shelf Indie Book Awards, 2017

 

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

 

GIVEAWAY!
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This is book #3, in The Creek Water series.  This book can be read as a standalone novel.  For reader understanding, and to avoid spoilers, I recommend reading this laugh-out-loud series in order intended.

 

Amelia has gotten to a good place.  She no longer freaks out.  She listens to good music.  Then she gets a visitor who performs said music in her shop.  Tongue tied does not really describe what happens. 

 

Huck is attracted to the honesty Amelia gives him right away.  Never did he think he would find someone who understands hi daughter, nor did he think he would want her so badly.  How can he convince her that the future is worth leaping toward?

 

I really loved this story.  I was surprised at all the funny moments.  The banter is wonderful.  The family interactions are not only easy to relate to, but they feel familiar.  Taking a sensitive subject and approaching it this way with such humor, was just genius!  I am certain this installment fits well into this series.  I sure cannot wait for the next installment!  I give this read a 5/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

 

 

***This ARC copy was given in exchange for an honest review.

"Only the truly gifted like myself have seen the glory that beings with death, the transformation into gods far greater than the priests and reverends and ministers pretend to know and love."



After the final straw, Kelly flees with her young son Keegan. Kelly plans to show up at a distant Aunt’s house miles from her hometown. However, her small Toyota breaks down right outside a small town named Black Water Creek. Luckily for Kelly the citizens of this town are more than accommodating and Kelly soon finds herself living a quaint new life, Lifetime-movie-esque style.

After settling into a small cabin Kelly soon begins to have vivid nightmares and starts experiencing sensations of paranoia. As the dreams increase, Kelly begins to frantically put the pieces together to solve the mystery hidden within the walls of her new home. Is it a presence or is it her mind playing tricks on her? Add a scorned, abusive ex-boyfriend and Kelly has her hands full trying to right her life.

I picked this book from the blurb and was pleasantly surprised at what a good story it is! The author is completely new to me and I may look into his other works. The writing style flowed and was perfectly paced- there was enough action between the daily scenes of the characters to keep me hooked. Also, this story truly reads like a movie- you’ll be guessing from the beginning and hungering to learn the secrets.



I did expect a bit “more” based on the blurb and the tag of “horror” genre. In my opinion, this is light-moderate romantic suspense. I truly don’t see it as a horror book. I wanted more gore, desolation, and destruction in the pages. There was an INTENSE back story that I thought got a little overshadowed by Kelly’s present story-line.

Overall a solid mystery & one I’d recommend to others! xx



"...these women should be celebrated as goddesses and heroines."

Excellent finish to this story. I wasn't sure when I started reading as I was actually getting a little frustrated with Eden in spite of what he went through, something that I would wish on no one male or female, but the ending worked and left me with a strong sense of optimism for Eden and Sean and the future they could share. Overall I really enjoyed this series and now maybe I can get some sleep (yeah I read most of it at night, insert big yawn here, lol). Thank you Ms Blackwell for a story that touched my heart and made me stop and think and maybe shed a tear or two over man's inhumanity to his fellow man.

Wow, I'm not sure which was more emotionally confusing the book or the reviews, I normally try not to read other reviews until I've written mine, but because of how I felt at the end of this book I thought it might help me sort out my thoughts on the book if I read some...yeah big mistake. I don't know how or why but in spite of whatever might be wrong about this book and I agree that there are things wrong. I still couldn't put it down. There were times that I was furious with Sean and wanted to shake him for being such an idiot. Eden on the other hand even when he was at his most obnoxious as he attempted to put up a tough front or whatever he was trying to do, he made me cry, he was so broken and I just wanted to hug him and tell him it didn't matter what he'd done in his life, what happened when he was 17 wasn't his fault in any way shape or form. At the end of it all I do have to say my hat is off to Ms Blackwell because like it or hate it, it's getting read, people are thinking & talking about the subject matter and in turn the book and for me one of the things that makes a book good is if it makes people use their brains to think and examine how they feel about issues and from what I've seen in these reviews people are definitely thinking and talking about the subject matter.